Page 96 of Quiet
Isa never should have come back. He was going to die here at the hands of a hateful man because he’d been stupid enough to believe he had the upper hand.
Isa clutched the poker, trying to pry it away from his throat as he twisted his body, but the foot on his chest kept him locked in place. The unholy gleam in his father’s eyes terrified him more than the iron slowly cutting off his air supply.
His vision went gray at the edges. Isa kicked out blindly, trying to break free, but he couldn’t connect with anything. His limbs were weak, useless lumps he could no longer control.
There was a crash in the distance, and a moment later the terrible pressure left his chest and neck, but Isa was too disoriented to do anything about it.
“I knew your home life was bad, pumpkin, but this takes the cake.”
Isa felt hands trace his neck and run lightly over his body, but he couldn’t focus enough to see who was doing it. All he was capable of right now was sucking in as much air as he could get.
His head was placed on someone’s lap.
“Briar, no!” An unfamiliar voice intruded on Isa’s joyful world of breathing, but he relaxed at the mention of his boyfriend. If Briar was here, everything was going to be okay.
The sound of footsteps pounding down the stairs made Isa try to sit up, but he was so dizzy the gentle hands on his shoulders easily kept him in place.
“Don’t try to sit up, love. That wouldn’t be good for you right now.” Isa’s thoughts cleared enough to recognize his best friend’s voice. It sounded tender and pissed at the same time. “Don’t even think about coming any closer, you sick fucks. You already know I have no problem hitting women.”
Isa’s vision caught up with his thoughts, and he saw Will curved around him protectively, cradling him in his lap and glaring at his mother and sister.
“Will? What are you doing here?” Isa asked stupidly.
“Just being beautiful and awesome, as usual. You know, normal hero shit.”
Isa snorted and tried to sit up again, and Will’s hands became a touch less gentle. “You’re hurt bad right now, sweetheart. I don’t think you should get up.”
“I really think I should.” Isa gestured toward the wrestling match going on in front of them.
Briar had Isa’s father pinned, much like Thomas had pinned Isa a moment ago, and an unknown man was attempting to wrestle the fire poker out of Briar’s hands. The bruise on the side of Thomas’ face told Isa Briar had already hit him with it at least once.
It wasn’t that Isa didn’t think his father deserved it, but he didn’t want Briar to murder him.
Will stopped holding Isa back, and he sat up. The world went all fuzzy. He wasn’t going to be able to stand on his own and he knew Briar would need to see a standing, functional Isa in order to calm down.
“Help me get up.”
Will hoisted him off the ground and allowed Isa to put most of his weight on him as he got his bearings.
“Back the fuck up, bitch.” Will snarled and amazed Isa by continuing to support him while kicking Rebecca in the stomach and sending her sprawling to the ground. His sister had tried to sneak up on them while Will was helping him up. He wasn’t ashamed of the satisfaction he felt seeing her normally spiteful demeanor turned to fear. Maybe Isa should take Taekwondo too. But first he needed to calm Briar down before he ended up in jail.
“Briar, I’m okay,” Isa said in an attempt to bring Briar out of the furious haze pouring off him in waves. He was holding out surprisingly well against the stranger, and the man was even larger than Briar. Isa would be worried, but the man looked enough like Briar that he assumed he was on their side.
“You are not okay, Isa. You are continents away from okay,” Will said with an edge to his voice. He looked like he was seconds from giving Rebecca another kick even though she was busy cowering on the ground.
“Shut up, Will,” Isa said through gritted teeth. “You aren’t helping.”
“I’m not entirely sure I should be helpful right now.” Will was angrier than he’d ever been in his life, and a large part of him wanted nothing more than to watch Briar beat Isa’s father to death. Huh. Apparently, Isa could read Will now too. He wasn’t sure how he felt about that.
Isa pushed himself away from his friend to stand on his own and was pleased to see his body accepting the task. “Well,Idon’t want to watch him beat my father to death, thank you.”
Wil blinked in surprise, and his anger gave way to confusion, which was exactly what Isa had been going for.
He made his way cautiously toward Briar, who had almost won the poker away from the stranger.
“Briar, love. Everything is okay now.” Isa felt Will tuck a scarf around his neck.
“You’ll convince him easier if he can’t see your neck.” Will grumbled, now torn between supporting his friend and the desire to avenge the nicest person he’d ever met.
